Burma Army still using rape as a weapon of war

[Zomi for Federalization and Democratization of Burma]

========
Nga Min Aung Hlaing should be removed from office. Using rape as a
weapon of war is unacceptable. Until and unless their daugters and
wives were raped, they will not sympathize with the ordeal the raped
women went trough.
========

Burma Army still using rape as a weapon of war

By Zin Linn May 23, 2012 12:43AM UTC



The Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT) has reported a gang-
rape committed by soldiers from the Burma Army. The incident occurred
at Luk Pi village in Chipwi township an area where heavy fighting took
place in recent weeks between the Burmese soldiers and the Kachin
Independence Army.
The victim was found in a church where she took refuge after most of
her neighbors run away, according to Myitkyina’s Blog. It was also
confirmed by the Kachin News Group (KNG) and Kachinland News in their
respective online pages.

A gang of bandit-like Burmese soldiers tortured a 48-year-old Kachin
woman and then gang-raped for three days in her village church
northwest of Pang Wa (Pangwa) beginning May 1, according to KWAT,
citing interviews with the victim and a local villager who was forced
to watch the assault.

Unarmed Kachin civilians are increasingly under attack from Burmese
armed forces in retaliation for their fallen soldiers during fighting
with the Kachin Independence Organization and its military wing the
KIA. Daily accounts of Burmese army burning down villages, raping
Kachin women, bombing innocent natives and arresting and torturing
local residents are reported from local sources, KNG said.

According to KWAT a group of around 10 soldiers hit the victim with
rifle butts, stabbed her with knives, stripped her naked and then gang-
raped her over a period of three days in the church. The troops
involved are said to be from Light Infantry Battalion 347 and Infantry
Battalion 118.

KWAT says that Yu Ta Gwi, a 59-year-old man who also was tied up and
apprehended by the soldiers, witnessed the brutal rape incident. When
the troops left the church on May 4, local villagers found Yu Ta Gwi
and the rape victim semi-conscious in the compound. Both Yu Ta Gwi and
the unnamed women were taken to a local hospital.

Yu Ta Gwi added that he was stabbed in his thigh and beaten until he
collapsed and lost consciousness, according to Kachinland News.

The woman suffered psychological trauma following torture and rape.
Ngwa Sa, her husband, said in tears, “she doesn’t reply to me anymore,
only talk about going home and I feel very sad.”

The 48-year-old mother was left extremely traumatized by the violence
and remains in an extremely fragile condition, according to KWAT.

It is very unlikely that any of the soldiers involved in the rape will
be formally investigated for their actions. Burma’s newly created
national human rights commission has said that it will not probe
allegations against the army or other incidents that are reported to
have happened in conflict areas.

Last year, similar gang-rape violence committed by Burmese soldiers
also occurred. The victim, Sumlut Roi Ja, a Kachin village-woman had
been seen last in October while being detained by Burmese troops near
Mai Ja Yang.

Earlier this year the husband of lost victim filed a lawsuit against
the soldiers with the intention of pressuring the army to reveal the
destiny of his wife. As there is no rule of law, the military-
dominated Supreme Court in Naypyidaw had thrown out the case of a
citizen who suffered rape and abduction by its soldiers. The law does
not protect citizens; instead it defends the vicious soldiers who
commit gang-rape.

In a press release issued last week highlighting the recent rape case,
a KWAT spokesperson suggested that the Burmese legal system’s refusal
to probe the Sumlut Roi Ja abduction case gave the army a green light
to continue to target ethnic women. The message from the Naypyidaw
Supreme Court is clear: the Burmese military can rape and kill ethnic
women with impunity, said KWAT director Moon Nay Li.

According to Kachinland News , KIO Chairman Lanyaw Zawng Hra, KIO
Central Committee, called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send
UN observer teams or intermediary teams to the conflict war zones, and
to the towns and villages destroyed by the Burmese Army, and to the
IDP camps in KIO areas.

As the Burmese army’s offensive continues grave human rights
violations have reached an alarming level and the humanitarian
situation has deteriorated in Kachin and Shan States. These incidents
are not random acts of violence, said KWAT spokesperson Shirley Seng
last year. The Burma Army is committing gang-rape and killing on a
wide scale. It is clear they are acting under orders, Shirley Seng
said.

KWAT demands that the regime immediately stops using rape as a weapon
of war, ends the offensive against Kachin and other ethnic groups, and
withdraws its troops from the ethnic areas.



http://asiancorrespondent.com/82976/burma-army-does-not-stop-using-rape-as-a-weapon-of-war/

========